COLLEGE FOOTBALL

COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Still Climbing the Mountain

By WILLIAM C. RHODEN

Published: November 2, 1990

When Nebraska plays host to Colorado tomorrow afternoon, a capacity crowd of 73,635 will be on hand to watch what will most likely turn out to be the most important game of the regular season for both teams. Memorial Stadium will be a sea of Cornhusker scarlet and cream, dotted ever so scantily by Colorado black and gold. The city of Lincoln, with a population of 192,600, will practically be deserted.

A Nebraska victory will boost the Cornhuskers' record to 9-0 and open the door to the unofficial national championship that has eluded Coach Tom Osborne for 17 years. But for Osborne, who succeeded Bob Devaney after the 1972 season, the ever-present question in a state in which Cornhusker football is supported with religous zeal is, "What happens if I lose?"

Last season Nebraska was 10-2, and ended the season with a loss to Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. Surprisingly -- at least for those unfamiliar with Nebraska's football culture -- there was an undercurrent of grumbling. "It was like we had a losing season," said the 52-year-old Osborne.

Indeed, when someone asked about his lofty staure in Lincoln, particularly this season with a team some think may be his best in seven years, Osborne chuckled. 'High Expectations'

"At Nebraska, if you ever got complacent and your teams weren't performing on the field, life would become so miserable that it wouldn't be worth staying, even if you have a lifetime contract," Osborne said. "There are pretty high expectations here."

Cornhusker watchers think that 1990 could be the season that washes out the memories of Nebraska's near-misses in the 1980's. This year's offense is hardly as explosive as that of the 1982 team, which featured Roger Craig, Mike Rozier, Turner Gill and Irving Fryar. But Leodis Flowers, the 5-foot-11-inch halfback, makes Nebraska's offense a lethal complement to its pulverizing defense, which is second nationally in fewest rushing yards allowed.

Timing may also be an ally. In Colorado, a team that is 4-0 in he Big Eight and 7-1-1 over all, Nebraska finally has a highly respected opponent that poses a legitimate test.

This time, a Cornhusker victory coupled with a Virgina loss to Georgia Tech tomorrow could catapult Nebraska to the No. 1 rankings in the polls and on its way to a possible bowl game for the unofficial championship. Currently, the Cornhuskers are ranked second by United Press International, third by The Associated Press and fourth by The New York Times's computer.

" I think we've got a decent chance," Osborne said yesterday by telephone. "A lot will hinge on Saturday, how well we do. Winning a national championship is something I think every coach would like to do, but it isn't the most important thing in my life. The most important thing is to have a team that plays well and competitively." One Thing to Prove

In fact, there is not much for Osborne to prove. He has the top winning percentage among active Division I football coaches. What he may want to prove, however, is that his team can finish the season ranked No. 1.

Nebraska was ranked No. 1 in the final A.P. poll after the 1970 season but U.P.I. ranked Texas No. 1. The next season, still under Devaney, the Cornhuskers finished on top of both polls. Osborne's great teams of 1982 and 1983 barely missed the final top ranking, which, for Osborne, points out the flaws and frustration of the current ranking system.

In 1982, Nebraska lost a controversial contest at Penn State in the third game of the season. A few weeks later, Penn State lost at Alabama. Meanwhile Nebraska went unbeaten the rest of the season to finish 12-1, but Penn State defeated Georgia, then No. 1, in the Sugar Bowl and finished with the final top ranking.

The next season, the Cornhuskers went 12-0 before losing to Miami by a point in the Orange Bowl. Miami was voted No. 1.

Osborne believes that the subjectiveness of the present system, in addition to conference restructuring, will eventually lead to a national playoff and an official champion.

"Like it or not, I see us moving more toward a national playoff because I think the conferences are going to get bigger to have more lucrative television packages," he said. "When you get four or five big conferences it's going to lend itself to a playoff." Suggestions for Change

In the last five years, Osborne has become less of a blind pursuer of victories and bowl bids, and has taken a longer look at the industry in which he operates.

In 1983 he proposed a $50-per-month stipend for athletes. Last year, at the National Collegiate Athletic Association convention in Dallas, he proposed using bowl game receipts to get money back to athletes.

"Athletes are kind of the ignored part of the equation," he said. "We're concerned about making more money but we're restricting the athletes more and more and we're requiring that they do more and more. But we're returning less and less to the athltes in terms of real financial aid."

The overriding reason for a more relaxed approach was Osborne's heart-bypass surgery in 1985. "I took a look at the way I was living," he said, "and tried to figure out what it was I had to do to do a decent job of coaching and anything else that wasn't something I had to do. I tried to eliminate those things that weren't real important to me.

"Winning games is important, but it maybe gets put in a little different light than it used to be."